GAME REPORT

Turkish Giants Gala Win Big At VICI

Isil Alben was had more than solid performance with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists for Galatasaray

Galatasaray snapped a two-game losing streak with a comprehensive victory at VICI Aistes in Kaunas on Wednesday night.

Following last week's home walloping at the hands of Ros Casares in the EuroLeague Women and then a defeat to Fenerbahce in the Turkish league, Gala travelled to Lithuania and beat VICI, 84-66.

Galatasaray improved to 7-1 in EuroLeague Women Group A and VICI Aistes fell to 1-7.

Trailing 6-2 four minutes into the contest, Gala's Diana Taurasi passed to Dürdane Gümüsay and the 22-year-old knocked down a jumper before Tina Charles knotted the game with a basket.

The hosts went back in front after Tatsiana Likhtarovich scored on a driving lay-up, but Taurasi answered with a jumper and Isil Alben followed with a three-point play.

Bahar Caglar kept the run going with a three-pointer before Taurasi added another jumper.

Charles scored again on a fast-break to cap the 12-0 spurt that had Galatasaray in front, 18-6.

By half-time, the Turkish club had a 45-29 lead.

The advantage ballooned to 22 by the end of the third quarter and 24 late in the fourth.

Taurasi had just four points in less than 16 minutes of action.

Epiphanny Prince led Gala with 16 points while Alben had 15 and Charles 14.

Saziye Ivegin, a key player in Turkey's national team, added nine points.

Likhtarovich of VICI Aistes had a game-high 17 points in defeat.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes VICI Aistes vs. Galatasaray

Galatasaray MP head coach Ceyhun Yildizoglu: "We came here after losing two games. Today my players' concentration was good. We played strong from the beginning. We knew that VICI is best at pick and rolls and we did a good job stopping that. I hope next game we will play better."

Galatasaray player Ayse Cora: "It was a good game for us, all players scored points. I think we played a great fast break offence. Also we stopped fast breaks of Kaunas and they didn't get easy fouls or points.

VICI-Aistes Kaunas point guard Rima Valentiene: "We have to do what coach tells us in every game. Some of our players have to decide if they want to play basketball when they step up on the court."

Vici head coach Mantas Sernius: "Every player had a specific task, especially players who did not start the game, but some of them failed to do their tasks. We missed injured Sandra Linkeviciene a lot because younger players weren't ready to play psychologically today. We must recover after all lost games."